Hermetic seal



- April 7, 1925. 1,532,237

0. H. ELIEL HERMETIC SEAL Filed May 9, 1921 Oscqrffil" ze l Patented Apr. 7, 1925. l i I i i unirsn stares rarest orsics.

OSCAR H. EL'IEL, OF LA SALLE, ILLINDIS.

HERME'IIG SEAL.

Application filed May 9, 1921. Seria1 No. 87,960.

To allwhom itmay concern: disclosures in. the specification and the ac- Be it known that I, Osoan H. ELIEL, a companying drawings. I citizen of the United States, and a resident The invention (in'a preferred form) is oil the city of La Salle, in the county of shown on the drawings and hereinafter more 6 La Salle and State of Illinois, have invented fully described. so certain new and useful In'iprovements in a On the drawings, Figure 1 is a transf l-[ermetic Seal; and I do hereby declare that verse verticijrl section through a perspective the following is a full, clear, and exact deview of a burial casket employing the imscription of the same, reference being had proved hermetic seal of this invention. 1'.) to the accon'ipanying drawings, and to the Figure 2 is an enlarged detail section 65 numerals of reference marked thereon, showing the method of joining the bottom which form a part of this specification. and top portions of the casket together by This invention relates to a hermetic seal, the l'icrmetlc seal. and particularly to an lll'lplOVeCi means for Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 hermetically sealing burial caskets to preshowing a slightly modified term of her- 7 vent the transmission of fluidbetween the metro seal.

interior thereo'l and the surrounding me Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 h j showing another form of hermetic seal.

is desirable that means be provided whereby showing a slightly modified form of hermetic 75 a tight seal may be quickly and economiseal. r rally accomplished with simple equipment Figure 6 is a view similar to Figureo such as is ordinarily available and at the showing another form. I same time it is desirable that itbe possible As shown on the drawings, the hermetic a to conveniently inspect the line of sealing seal of this invention is particularly adapt- 80 connection between the upper and lower ed for use in connection with a metal casket portions of the casket. Caskets whichare and for purposes of illustration aistamped best adapted to be hermetically sealed are metal burial casket is shown and described constructed of stamped metal and in 'proherein. Said casket comprises a bottom or 3"- viding an economical and durable constrncbody portion 1 which is provided with intetion it is necessary that the steps in the gral vertical side walls and end portions 2, stamping process be reduced to a minimum and integral with said walls and end porand that undue tensioning of the metal be tions is an outwardly extending substanavoided. tially horizontal flange 8. An integral horiln hermetically sealing burial caskets it Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 0 vention to provide a hermetic seal for metal I ed to rest on said flange 3 and the fusible burial caskets wherein a fusible sealing masealing ma erial is interposed and sealed beterial is secured to adjacent portions 01 the. tween the flanges 3 and L in a manner whit-h casket by the process of sweating or by a .will now be described. similar method of indirect application of I th t ti Shown i Fi 2 th on heat to the sealing material. flange 3is provided with an integral pe- It is another object- 01 this inven on o ripheral "flange 6 which extends upwardly provide a hermetic seal wherein adjacent therefrom slightly above the top of the portions of a container having strips of flange don the cover 5. Interposed between 45 fusible material interposed therebetween are the flanges 3 and 4 and between the outer 1W subsequently secured thereto both by the edge of the flange t and the inner wall of direct and the indirect application of heat. the flange (3 is a strip of fusible sealing It is a further objectof this invention material 7 which is adapted to effect a to provide a hermetic seal which may be hermetic seal between the cover 5 and the 50 conveniently inspected. body of the casket. 1

It is an important object of this inven- In the construction shown in Figure 3, the tion to provide an economical, easily applied, flange 4: is also provided with an upwardly hermetic seal for burial caskets. extending integral peripheral flange which Other and further important objects of is represented by the reference numeral 8v as this invention will be apparent from the and which acts to secure a strip of fusible 5 It is an object therefore of the present in zontal tlange'd of a cover portion 5 is adapt- 90 material similar to the strip 7 in position to effect a seal between the cover and the body of the casket.

In the construction shown in Figure 4, the flange 8 is replaced by an outwardly inclined flange 9 whereby the fusible sealing material 7 is more securely locked in position.

In the construction shown in Figure the flange l is provided with a downwardly extending peripheral flange 10 which rests on the upper side of the flange 8 and the seal is effected by means of fusible material 11 which is interposed between said "lange l0 and the inner side of the flange (5.

In the construction shown in Figure 6 the peripheral flanges on the flanges 3 and are omitted and the seal is e'li' cted by the interposition of a strip of fusible material 12 therebetween.

In order that the fusible material which is interposed teen-the flanges 3 and 4 and the retaining flai :es associated therewith may be fused to effect a hermetic seal between the cover of the casket and the body portion thereof, it is of course necessary that heat be applied thereto. This is preferably accomplished by applying a soldering iron or other suitable heat applying means to the outside of the flange l or the flange 3 and by thus applying heat the fusible material and the flanges will be secured together by a process which is known in the art as sweating. W'hile this sweating process in itself assures a very effective seal between the flanges, the seal may be further insured by applying heat to the exposed edge of the fusible materia as for example bet"een the outer edge of the flange 4 and the inner wall of the flange 6 in Figure 4'. This may be conveniently accomplished by ap )lying a soldering iron to the edge of the fusible material and drawing the iron entirely around the periphery of the casket while in contact with this exposed edge. (then this is done an external inspection will rear ily show that the caske is actually sealed.

it is of course understood that fusible sealing material may be interposed between certain portions in unfused condition and subsequently fused by pouring in additional sealing material in a molten state, or the parts may be sealed together by first properly positioning the same and subsequently pouring the fused sealing material therebetween.

In effecting the seal a fusible material coi'nprising a lead alloy such as solder preferably employed but it is of course un derstood that any suitable fusible sealing material may be employed without depart ing from the spirit of this invention.

It will be noted that this seal is particularly adapted for use in connection with stamped metal caskets, since the same is effected without the provision of any channels in the metal and consequently the undesirable tensioning of the metal to form these channels is eliminated. On account of the ease with which the seal may he applied and the simple equipment by which it may be fused into sealing relation, it is of course evident that it is particularly adapted for use in connection with burial caskets and it is also apparent that the seal of this invention may also be used to advantage in connection with the hermetic sealing of other metal containers.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

it hermetic seal for burial caskets comprising an outwardly extending horizontal flange on the body por ion, a cover portion having an upturned edge adapted to overlap said flange, an upturned edge on said horizontal flange, the upturned edge of the cover portion lying within the upturned edge on said horizontal flange and spaced away therefrom, and fusible material sealiizgly secured between said flange and its upturned edge and the margin and upturned edge of the cover portion.

in testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OSCAR H.

ll itnesses CARLTON HI L, JAMES M. OBRIEN. 

